Warranty question or normal stuff for the car?
 

So, this is about my wife's car. That means I only drive it once every few weeks or so. Which means that what I'm telling you is (somehow) new (and weird) to me.

Car info:

2012 model bought in August last year, driven mostly to work, 4700 miles (in 8 months ... I know it's low).

Problems:

1: When pressing the clutch (with the car in gear or not, engine/trans hot or cold) I hear a clunk (I don't feel it like a vibration or anything). It's not very loud but it's there. Same thing happens when I release it (no matter how slow; OK, if I release it veeeery slow, I can't hear it). The only time when I don't hear it is when the engine revs are higher than the wheels' and I release it slowly.

2: The classical CV joint noise on the right: when accelerating with the wheels maximally turned to the left, I hear a groan from the right side. The boot is not torn and I don't feel any vibration.

Questions:

1: How normal are these things (esp. the clutch noise) for this car?

2: How long should I wait before going to the dealer (so far, the car runs fine, the only problems are in my ears - not even in my wife's)? Also, I have almost 4 and a half years left in the powertrain warranty and I doubt my wife will pass 50k miles by then.

Once again, 90% of the miles were done commuting (~80% highway and rarely in rush hour), the car was never abused or even driven hard (from mile 12 until now, the fuel consumption is 26.5 mpg and the average speed is 30mph).

Thanks in advance!

If it is stock...which sounds like it...then just take it to the dealership. Won't hurt.

It is 100% stock (not my car ...).
I thought about that (taking it to the dealer) but the way I see it is like this:

- Hey, I bought a car from you and now it makes these noises.
- I don't hear anything
- But I do
- But there are no other problems, right?
- Right, just noises.
- Come back when you have problems!

And there goes 2 hours of my life ...

I will probably go but first I want to make sure it's really something wrong (unlike let's say the injector's clicking that MIGHT sound like valvetrain problems). It's really hard to argue when you're not convinced you're right ...

can you consistently cause the car to make the noise? If so request to go on a test drive with the tech so you can make him hear the noise

Yes I can; but my last interaction with a guy from a dealership guy was:

Car: (going over a bump) "clunck"
Me: Did you hear that?
Him: No!
Car: (going over some potholes) "clunk", "clunk", "clunk"
Me: Did you at least hear that?
Him: No!

truth be told, the car was a used first gen MS3 he had for sale just out of warranty (meaning he was suppose to change some bushings/ball joints - spend money); even so, after that I don't like arguing with them unless I'm 100% sure I'm right

So far it seems so (no one said it's normal).

1) Give them negative feedback with Mazda North America.

2) Go to a better dealership.